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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29861679">Filling Their Bucket</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRebelFlower/pseuds/TheRebelFlower'>TheRebelFlower</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fab Five Feb 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:48:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29861679</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRebelFlower/pseuds/TheRebelFlower</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Virgil just can't resist helping people. Or drawing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fab Five Feb 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Filling Their Bucket</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is part of the 2021 Fab Five Feb challenge. My additional challenge is to add Kayo to the stories, as she's part of the gang too. The prompts for Virgil's week were: lake, banana, a question, "I don't understand" and delicious.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil and Kayo sat at a table in an outdoor terrace, enjoying a short break and a meal halfway through their supply run. They had gathered the mail from the post storage and done a few errands already, so all that was left after their lunch would be the food shopping.</p>
<p>“I almost feel guilty about leaving the guys with house cleaning duties,” Kayo said, stealing a French fry from Virgil’s plate.</p>
<p>“I don’t. We did it last week,” he replied, nudging his plate in her direction to give her an easier access.</p>
<p>She shook her hand in front of her to stop him. “No, thanks. I’m full.”</p>
<p>He left the plate where it was, knowing better, and sure enough, she plucked another fry from the plate after a while. He was not quick enough to wipe the I-knew-it expression from his face and it earned him a glare; he knew however that she wasn’t serious so he didn’t take it personally. He actually enjoyed doing the run with Kayo. He was sure there wouldn’t be drama as it often happened with his youngest siblings, and he wouldn’t be hurried when he didn’t feel like it, as his older brother usually wanted to get it over with as quickly as they could.</p>
<p>“Did you want to stop by that bakery on the other side of the plaza?” he asked, “we could get dessert for tonight.”</p>
<p>“You’re saying this as if the banana bread Grandma made this morning won’t do.”</p>
<p>“Those bananas were about ready to make a run for it themselves.”</p>
<p>Kayo chuckled but tried to look stern. “Aww, come on, she tries.”</p>
<p>“I know... I love her to bits and we couldn’t make it without her, but I do want to eat something delicious once in a while.”</p>
<p>They finished their meal—Kayo stole yet a few more fries—and headed off for the next stop on their run. The plaza was a large open space in the middle of the shops where there were benches, a water fountain and usually a few food carts or itinerant vendors. It seemed a little different today, as about half of the area was set up like a market with a few kiosks where some people sold various goods in addition to the food carts. They were all set around a main table where some people were dressed festively to draw the attention of the public. </p>
<p>“What’s going on? This isn’t usually here,” Kayo said, peering curiously at the closest table display.</p>
<p>“Looks like some kind of flea market… did you want to have a look?”</p>
<p>“Sure, why not. Sometimes you can find some good books.”</p>
<p>“Or that odd, really ugly clown figurine no one asked for or needed.”</p>
<p>They made their way slowly up and down the aisles, looking at the assorted items. Many of the tables featured the logo from the main table and there were donation buckets at the end of each aisle, indicating that the whole event was part of a drive to help gather some money for a local charity. There were balloons for children and even a table to one side where someone was doing face painting in exchange for donations.</p>
<p>Finding nothing of interest to buy, the two friends came back to the main table. Virgil started to pull out his wallet to contribute anyway when they heard a commotion at the face painting table. The make-up artist was standing up, her face red, and was facing an irate parent. The child being painted on was sitting in the middle, visibly upset. Virgil’s peacemaking instincts automatically woke up and he approached the table. Nearly at the same time, the artist threw up her hands in defeat and exclaimed: “I don’t get paid enough for this!” and stormed off, leaving the parent standing there and the child crying with half a face of make-up on.</p>
<p>Virgil and Kayo had a quick, silent exchange specific to team members used to work together and she went after the artist while he gave his attention to the customers. A small crowd had gathered around in addition to the few other people waiting in line to see what was going on.</p>
<p>He didn’t even have the time to say anything before the angry parent exploded: “My son wanted a hawk! Does this look like a hawk to you?” she swiped her hand toward the little boy.</p>
<p>It didn’t. It looked like a half-hearted attempt at a cat at best. Virgil kept his face as neutral as he could because the little boy was watching him, sniffing.</p>
<p>“I wanted to take my donation back and that... that woman had the gall to be insulted!”</p>
<p>He opened his mouth to protest that she couldn’t just take her donation back, it was just not done, but he was pretty sure the woman was beyond caring at this point. He addressed the little boy instead, his rescue mode fully kicking in: “Hey buddy, want me to see if I can fix it?”</p>
<p>Virgil’s calm demeanor and soothing voice had an instantaneous effect on both. The boy stopped crying and nodded and the mother was drawn by the rich baritone; her face was still red, but probably not for the same reason as it was before.</p>
<p>He took a tissue to wipe the little boy’s tears gently, then surveyed the pencils on the table. This was pretty much like painting, wasn’t it? He surely hoped so...</p>
<p>He worked for a little while, concentrating on erasing the cat and turning it into more of a bird form. He was aware that Kayo came back at some point when she leant closer and whispered in his hear: “The artist isn’t coming back.”</p>
<p>“I figured as much,” he replied in a low voice as he worked on the feathers on the boy’s brow.</p>
<p>Kayo bent down further to pick up the artist’s handbag to bring it to the main table. “That looks fab by the way, well done,” she told him before leaving again.</p>
<p>While Virgil didn’t have his brother Gordon’s ease with words and his ultra-positive energy, he still did pretty good in reassuring the child, making small talk as he completed his drawing. “How’s this? Do you like it?” he asked, presenting the boy with a hand mirror that was on the table.</p>
<p>The boy gawped at the result. “That is so cool, mister,” he said, turning his head left and right to look at the complete effect.</p>
<p>His mother was even more effusive. “Thank you,” she exclaimed, then kissed him impulsively on the cheek.</p>
<p>Virgil smiled back, a little embarrassed, mumbling that the pleasure was his, and both customers left. He put the pencil back onto the table, feeling good for having helped someone, trying to ignore the fact that he probably had lipstick on his face now, and began standing up to join Kayo and continue with the shopping.</p>
<p>And set eyes upon the next hopeful child and parent in line.</p>
<p>
  <em>Darn it.</em>
</p>
<p>He sat back down. “Hi...” he began.</p>
<p>He felt Kayo’s hand on his shoulder and she moved in close again. “I’ll tell the others that we might arrive a little later than expected,” she commented with a smile in her voice.</p>
<p>He grunted. He just couldn’t say no to anyone in need.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Two cats, one tiger and two butterflies later, the line had dwindled down to two children. The charity organizers had started packing up and had told Virgil he could stop any time he wanted, but he had insisted on at least staying for those who were already in line. The organizers didn’t insist, especially considering that the donation bucket was noticeably fuller now. Kayo remained close by most of the time but had returned to browse the tables a few times and had brought Virgil something to drink at one point.</p>
<p>The next child sat on the chair. There was a determined, almost defiant, expression in her clear blue eyes. Her mother smiled timidly, as if she was expecting to have to apologize for something. Virgil gave both his most reassuring smile. “Hello, sorry for the wait. Do you have a favorite animal and color?” he asked. “You look like a cat person—”</p>
<p>“I want a Thunderbird One.”</p>
<p>He froze and his face fell. Behind him, Kayo unsuccessfully tried to hold back a snort of laughter. “Thunderbird One?” he stammered, his gaze going from the little girl to her mother, who shrugged a little.</p>
<p>“She loves the Thunderbirds,” the woman provided. “Honey, the nice man suggested a cat, perhaps...”</p>
<p>“I don’t want a cat,” her stare was unwavering from under her dark blond eyebrows.</p>
<p>Virgil turned in his seat to glance at Kayo, more or less asking her if she saw any problem with it. She obviously found the situation amusing. “Do you need reference pictures?” she asked with a lopsided smile.</p>
<p>He made a face at her. “No, I think I can manage on my own.” He turned to the little girl. “Why One? Why not Two?”</p>
<p>“One is faster.”</p>
<p>“Yes, it is,” Virgil admitted reluctantly, then picked a blue pencil on the table and asked the child to hold her hair up for him so that he could draw a sky.</p>
<p>Kayo was hovering around. He could not see her without turning, but he knew she was there. “Don’t you have somewhere to go?” he asked her after a while.</p>
<p>“Not really. Besides, I love to watch you draw,” she replied, quite aware that she was annoying him.</p>
<p>He pursed his lips and tried to focus on what he was doing. He used somewhat of an artistic license with the design, making it look similar to the actual ship, but in a simplified version. Using white on the bottom of the child’s face to illustrate that One was taking off, he added red and orange flames on her lips. Then decided to add his palm trees on her cheeks, just because he could. <em>Take that, Scooter!</em> He drew the wings in the extended position, just to make sure that the picture didn’t look inappropriate. “I think I got it,” he said, handing the girl the mirror. “Do you like it?”</p>
<p>She studied her reflection carefully, then nodded. “Yes. Thank you very much,” she stated, then proceeded with putting the donation her mother handed her solemnly into the bucket, hesitated, then added a little more from what Virgil presumed was her own money.</p>
<p>Her mother ushered her out of the chair, saying that someone else was waiting, but taking the time to thank him as well and they walked off.</p>
<p>“That’s the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Kayo commented.</p>
<p>He hummed in agreement, the whole experience putting a smile on his face.</p>
<p>“Your picture wasn’t bad either,” she added, laughing and ducking away when he swatted his hand at her.</p>
<p>The last child sat down on the chair and his request was for a much more conventional dog. Virgil drew on, trying to be as efficient as he could considering the boy was worming around on his seat and complained halfway that it was taking a long time.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kayo had caught up with the little girl and her mother and was talking to them. They weren’t directly in Virgil’s field of vision but he could see them off to the side. Kayo said something, then raised her wrist communicator; she was more than likely calling Scott so that he could meet his newest admirer.</p>
<p>The boy stopped wiggling long enough for Virgil to finish and soon he was alone at the table with the full bucket. He flexed his fingers, which were a little achy for drawing for so long, then began putting the supplies away.</p>
<p>He was putting the lid on the box of pencils when he felt a presence to his right. It was Scott’s little fan. “May I help you?” he asked.</p>
<p>“I would like to say that Thunderbird Two is also very nice even though it looks a bit like a potato,” she said.</p>
<p>Apparently, she now knew who he was. He blinked at the odd comparison of his ship with a vegetable, but wanted to remain polite. “Um, thank you?”</p>
<p>“I would also like to say that normally I would kiss you to make you feel better but that would ruin the painting and therefore we’ll have to wait until the next time we meet.”</p>
<p>He frowned. <em>Until we what? I don’t understand...</em></p>
<p>He didn’t have the time to ask her what she meant. Her mother called her insistently and she hurried off, leaving Virgil with the mystery.</p>
<p> </p>
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